


(My Soulmate is) a Fish out of Water

by PerplexinglyParadoxialPerson



Series: A Walk on the Wild Side (With You) [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Podfic Welcome, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Transformative Works Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerplexinglyParadoxialPerson/pseuds/PerplexinglyParadoxialPerson
Summary: This one shot takes place after chapter ten in Wild Horses Couldn’t drag me away (from my soulmate)It’s short, because it was originally a deleted scene, but I hope you enjoy!
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson
Series: A Walk on the Wild Side (With You) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857838
Kudos: 21





	(My Soulmate is) a Fish out of Water

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot takes place after chapter ten in Wild Horses Couldn’t drag me away (from my soulmate)
> 
> It’s short, because it was originally a deleted scene, but I hope you enjoy!

Bucky flopped on the couch after work, tossing his bag to the side, and staring up at the ceiling. He felt so… mixed up. 

On one hand, he had met his soulmate, and finally had an explanation for the weirdness of his spirit mark, but on the other hand, his soulmate was Captain America, someone he had thought was a fake since he was revealed. And yet, he had acted so differently than Bucky had expected. 

Sam came into the room, saying “supper will be ready soon.” 

“You’re such a good house husband,” Bucky said sarcastically. 

“Are you ok?” Sam asked, which was fair, because usually Bucky tended to be more teasing about it, but he didn’t have the energy for it now. 

“It’s complicated. I met my soulmate.” 

“So you’re in the comedown then,” Sam said. “What are they like? When did you meet them?” 

“You have to promise that you won’t tell anyone about what I’m about to say. It’s complicated and kind of unbelievable.” 

“Of course,” Sam said. “Is it really that bad?” 

“Jessica was right,” Bucky said, exhausted. 

“About what?” Sam asked suspiciously. “My soulmate is Captain America,” Bucky said, making jazz hands. 

“What?!” Sam said flopping onto the couch as well, staring at Bucky. “You’re joking! You can’t have met Captain America, he lives in DC doesn’t he?” 

“I have no clue,” Bucky said. “It was near the end of my break so we didn’t have a lot of time to talk, but I saw his spirit mark change colour with my own eyes. Whoever he is, he’s my soulmate.” 

“So he’s almost certainly not the actual World War Two Captain America then,” Sam said. “Everyone knows that he was soulmates with Peggy Carter. You were actually right about that!” 

“I’m not so sure,” Bucky said. “For one, he said that they made the press think that they were soulmates, partially because dating before meeting your soulmate was a lot more stigmatized back then, and I think a couple other reasons. He said that he didn’t have a mark until he woke up from the ice.” 

“No mark?” Sam asked, “like… he didn’t get one at all before he came out of the ice, at… however old he was?” 

“No,” Bucky said. “And in a way that makes me believe him more. It may be a pretty out there idea, but it’s one of those “too weird to be fake” things, and if I hadn’t been born then, he wouldn’t have gotten it. Everyone knows that both soulmates have to be born in order for the mark to appear.”

“But not having a spirit mark at all?” Sam said, eyes wide. “Like for most of his life? That’s just… wrong. I mean… even knowing that you  _ had  _ a soulmate that you never met and never will has to be better than thinking you don’t have a soulmate at all. Just  _ thinking _ about not having a mark feels wrong. It’s just one of those things that happen when you grow up, like losing your baby teeth.”

“I know,” Bucky said. “Not to mention, if he was “asleep” in the ice, and only woke up a little bit before the battle of Manhattan…” 

“Like your mark!” Sam said, “that… that actually makes a lot of sense! It didn’t change at all either, because he was in stasis, so his personality  _ couldn’t  _ change, so the animal couldn’t change either, and he was well past the age that most people’s spirit animal stops changing. But… I remember your mark starting to move only a little bit before the battle, how long was it between then?” 

Bucky looked at the calendar on his phone, and gaped. “It was about three weeks before the battle that my mark began to move. He was awake in this century for a maximum of a few weeks before he was fighting aliens! I can’t… I can’t even imagine what that would be like.” 

Bucky remembered how lost he had felt after he had come home from the military hospital after losing his arm. And that had only been him down one arm, at home with a whole family that loved him and cared for him, he hadn’t lost everyone and everything that he had known and loved. 

“How old is he really though?” Sam questioned, “minus the seventy years in the ice of course.” 

Bucky opened safari, looking Steve up. 

“He was twenty six when he “died”” he said, shocked. “That means that he’s about twenty seven now!” 

“I almost thought that he would be thirty something,” Sam said. “At least I know now that he isn’t way too old for you. You just turned thirty, so technically you’re older than him. 

One thing I really don’t get though,” Sam continued thoughtfully. “Is that his spirit animal is a monkey of all animals. That spirit animal would almost make more sense on someone that was impersonating Captain America. With monkeys tending to represent mischievousness, troublemakers, and smarts, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Except for the smartness of course.” 

“Yeah,” Bucky said. “I almost would have expected like… a golden retriever, a wolf, or even a bear. But maybe it’s just that he has hidden depths. 

I think he probably is the actual Captain America though, I didn’t feel as… unnerved as I did when I saw him on TV, and I didn’t get the feeling that he was lying very much either. Maybe being on TV just made him seem less trustworthy?” 

“That’s possible,” Sam said. “But you’d better tell your family before they find out on their own. And speaking of your family, and telling people, what about the soulmate list?” 

“He was surprised that it was a thing,” Bucky said. “But he was concerned that I would be used as a way to get to him or something, so I told him about the secret list. Apparently he has enough back pay that he could actually afford it, but said that he wanted to do some more research into it, and figure out what he had to do to get on it. We do have about a week's grace period after all.” 

“Fair enough,” Sam said. “But who are you telling?” 

“My family and you,” Bucky said. “It’s just… he seems very private about things like that, and I want to respect that. Besides, Susan and Jessica, as much as I like them, are work friends, and I’d rather not talk about it at work.” 

“John being casually homophobic again?” Sam asked sympathetically. 

“Yeah,” Bucky said. “But I shouldn’t waste my time on him, he’s a dick anyway.” 

“That’s the spirit,” Sam said with a grin. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact! Im currently at 20k words in the sequel, and I’m about one fourth, to one fifth done it! It’s going to be a very long story, but it’ll probably be done faster than I expected!


End file.
